The City & The City

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John Ajvide Lindqvist's novel, a huge best seller in his native Sweden, is a unique and brilliant fusion of social novel and vampire legend. And a deeply moving fable about rejection, friendship and loyalty. Oskar and Eli. In very different ways, they were both victims. Which is why, against the odds, they became friends. And how they came to depend on one another, for life itself. Oskar is a 12-year-old boy living with his mother on a dreary housing estate at the city's edge. Eli is the young girl who moves in next door.

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At first, only a few things are known about the celestial object that astronomers dub Rama. It is huge, weighing more than ten trillion tons. And it is hurtling through the solar system at inconceivable speed. Then a space probe confirms the unthinkable: Rama is no natural object. It is, incredibly, an interstellar spacecraft. Space explorers and planet-bound scientists alike prepare for mankind's first encounter with alien intelligence.

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Day one: The Georgia Flu explodes over the surface of the Earth like a neutron bomb. News reports put the mortality rate at over 99%. Week Two: Civilization has crumbled. Year Twenty: A band of actors and musicians called the Travelling Symphony move through their territories performing concerts and Shakespeare to the settlements that have grown up there. Twenty years after the pandemic, life feels relatively safe. But now a new danger looms, and it threatens the hopeful world every survivor has tried to rebuild.

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The gigantic comet had slammed into Earth, forging earthquakes a thousand times too powerful to measure on the Richter scale, tidal waves thousands of feet high. Cities were turned into oceans; oceans turned into steam. It was the beginning of a new Ice Age and the end of civilization. But for the terrified men and women chance had saved, it was also the dawn of a new struggle for survival--a struggle more dangerous and challenging than any they had ever known....

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Best-of genre

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Summary

New York Times best-selling author China Mieville delivers his most accomplished novel yet, an existential thriller set in a city unlike any other, real or imagined. When a murdered woman is found in the city of Beszel, somewhere at the edge of Europe, it looks to be a routine case for Inspector Tyador Borlof the Extreme Crime Squad. But as he investigates, the evidence points to conspiracies far stranger and more deadly than anything he could have imagined.

Borl must travel from the decaying Beszel to the only metropolis on Earth as strange as his own. This is a border crossing like no other, a journey as psychic as it is physical, a shift in perception, a seeing of the unseen. His destination is Beszel's equal, rival, and intimate neighbor, the rich and vibrant city of Ul Qoma. With Ul Qoman detective Qussim Dhatt, and struggling with his own transition, Borl is enmeshed in a sordid underworld of rabid nationalists intent on destroying their neighbouring city, and unificationists who dream of dissolving the two into one. As the detectives uncover the dead woman's secrets, they begin to suspect a truth that could cost them and those they care about more than their lives.

What stands against them are murderous powers in Beszel and in Ul Qoma: and, most terrifying of all, that which lies between these two cities. Casting shades of Kafka and Philip K. Dick, Raymond Chandler and 1984, The City & the City is a murder mystery taken to dazzling metaphysical and artistic heights.

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Twice the city for your money

My first China Mieville title, but I've already downloaded another. Gosh, this is good.
Those who have lived rough on city streets know the phenomenon of acquired invisibility - passers-by strive not to see the awkward beggar (in Mieville's terminology, they 'unsee' them). Jack Vance took this phenomenon further in the Dying Earth, imagining a city called Ampridatvir where the cursed citizens are divided in two; those who wear green can no longer see those who wear grey, and vice versa. Mieville has taken the concept on by a huge leap, brilliantly creating a credible city divided in two by that strangest of human abilities - the capacity to ignore reality. The division of the two cities is enforced in a startling way, while outsiders have to deal with this strange reality as best they can. Science Fiction becomes classic if it is about ideas which illuminate our current human condition, and on that basis this haunting work is destined for classic status. It also helps when there are good characters, and Mieville serves up some approachable people - the conscientious cop and his potty-mouthed counterpart from the 'other side' are superb foils. This is a genre-busting novel, and the ear for detective-fiction dialogue is equally sharp.
The narrator is John Lee, who will be well known to Audible SF listeners already. Your ears are in safe hands here.

Fantastic, in both senses

Mieville skillfully combines the tropes of a police procedural novel with his extraordinary, surreal creation. Unlike the cliched sword and sorcery fantasy writers who invoke the rural and the medieval in their worlds, Mielville's work is fiercely urban both here and in his other novels making him, to my mind, a much more interesting writer than George R.R. Martin and his ilk.

There is more to Mieville's creation, however, than simply fantastical story telling. The author is a committed socialist and often uses his fiction to make political points. Here, the message is about how easy we find it to ignore the ills of our societies in the same way as the two cities are trained to ignore one another.

This is a fantastic novel in both senses of the word. Its sheer inventiveness and the force of its central conceit are undeniable and I was drawn into this richly imagined world. I guess how much you like this novel (and I liked it very much) will depend on how much you can buy into it.

Not My Usual Sort of Story, But I Liked It

The synopsis intrigued me and the reviews drew me in - and I'm glad, this is a compelling story.An interstitial city within 2 cities where new cultures and dynamics must be conformed too is brilliantly and convincingly crafted by the author.My only complaint is that I failed to 'feel' for any of the characters, but that may be part of the world they live in.

If like me, you've need convincing to step outside of genres you're used to - be bold, try The City and The City. A great story, a great listen.

A fascinating story

This a fascinating "other" story--how we view those who are not us and yet are--like religious factions vying as to who has the rightful claim to be city proprietor. Here Mieville creates extensive competing city-states who occupy the same physical space but have e.g. different names for the same streets and who go out of their way, through complicated laws and cultures, to ignore the other's existence even though the "other" may be standing mere feet away. Into this doppelgänger existence comes a murder mystery that causes both societies to clash. Very good and highly recommended.

Loved it

Would you listen to The City & The City again? Why?

I had to listen to the first chapter twice, in order to get into the swing of things so that I could follow the concept of the two cities. After that, it was plain sailing and I found it really easy to follow. I probably wouldn't listen to the whole thing again because I like to read a lot so I tend not to revisit books, but I certainly would recommend this!

What did you like best about this story?

I loved the concept. It it's a detective novel with a twist. The unique setting is really what makes this book. Other reviewers have found the a setting a little unbelievable but I think it is really well written and so it's clear what's going on, even if it is unlike anywhere you will ever visit in the real world.

What about John Lee’s performance did you like?

I loved the narration. I found the characters really distinct and the sense of this place as being somewhere, but no where in particular, in Europe is captured by his use of accent. That said, my other half found him difficult to follow and really didn't enjoy the accents, so I think that you should probably listen to a sample and decide for yourself.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

I wouldn't want to spoil the book for anyone wanting to read it but I think it is well worth picking up. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Seems preposterous, but...

I listened to this book without first reading any reviews thoroughly, so I really didn't understand what was going on with the two cities to start with. Then it slowly dawned that two cities exist, intermingled, in the same location and one pretends the other doesn't exist and vice versa. This seems absolutely ridiculous, but then you have to think about situations that have existed or used to exist - Israel/Palestine, the Berlin wall, apartheid, all of which would sound mad if you just made them up. There is even a sort-of parallel in Britain at the moment - the Polish community in some areas can live almost independently of the rest of British society with their own shops and language.

The two cities are an intriguing backdrop to an intriguing murder mystery.

This is the first audiobook that I have listened to all the way through twice, partly to listen again to the parts that confused me at the beginning and also to pay more attention to minor characters that become important later.

Clever comment on cultural boarders

What did you like most about The City & The City?

I liked the way that Mieville comments on social issues through his science fiction/ fantasy work. In this case cultural boarders is the theme and it's handled cleverly and makes you think about the problems and absurdities associated with it.

What other book might you compare The City & The City to, and why?

Another of Mievilles books Embassy Town. Where he takes a worldly problem and gives its the fantasy treatment. In both books, the worlds are different from our every day lives , but not so strange that we cannot recognise our own world in them.

Engaging and intriguing

Fantasy with its roots firmly embedded in a grimy, complex reality - just the way I like it.

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Overall

5 out of 5 stars

Performance

5 out of 5 stars

Story

5 out of 5 stars

Jono

12-08-12

A wonderfull introduction to the power of audio

Would you consider the audio edition of The City & The City to be better than the print version?

I have not read the print version

Who was your favorite character and why?

The lead detective was the central character and was both compelling and enjoyable

What about John Lee’s performance did you like?

Absolutely amazing reading

Any additional comments?

My first China Mieville and a wonderful listen. The story slowly builds and expands and John Lee's reading was fantastic!

1 person found this helpful

Overall

5 out of 5 stars

Performance

5 out of 5 stars

Story

5 out of 5 stars

Ilana

27-05-12

Noir with a Twist

Inspector Tyador Borlu, who lives in the fictional rundown East European city of Beszel is called in when a young unidentified woman if found murdered. Borlu has lived his whole life in Beszel and has therefore been deeply programmed to "unsee" the other city, Ul Qoma, which occupies virtually the same physical space, but has a completely different economy, customs, ways of dressing and language. When it appears that the young woman might have been murdered in one city and dumped into the other, Borlu must "travel" to Ul Qoma to work closely with their own police force, but in preparation for his trip he must first undergo training to insure he can "unsee" his hometown of Beszel while he is staying in Ul Qoma. Quite a mind twister, but a fascinating story which puts into question questions of identity and the amount of programming we are all subjected to in order to conform to the order prescribed by the powers that be. China Miéville is known for exploring different genres with each novel, and here he does the Noir criminal mystery genre with a twist very well indeed. My first Miéville and certainly not my last.

1 person found this helpful

Overall

4 out of 5 stars

Performance

4 out of 5 stars

Story

4 out of 5 stars

tinyclanger

27-02-20

Terrific story, great concept, some flaws

The central conceit of this novel is brilliant: two cities that are one city. Miéville paints a completely believable picture of how the cities coexist. Details are vivid, and there are wonderful turns of phrase now and again. It's a rich world to be immersed in.

I'm less convinced by the dialogue, which errs on the side of melodrama, and which is heavily expositional: I would much prefer to find out what is happening by figuring it out myself than by one of the characters explaining to another character what just happened and why. I would also have liked a less 'actorly' reading (the narrator is otherwise excellent) when the text itself is already a bit overwrought with so much emoting and exclamation.

Very good book that I will recommend, but you have to not mind about the things mentioned above if you want to get the most out of it.

Overall

3 out of 5 stars

Performance

4 out of 5 stars

Story

2 out of 5 stars

Eszter

07-09-13

Eh - it was okay. John Lee saved it

Is there anything you would change about this book?

The plot was pretty flat and ended kind of boring. Its a murder mystery set in an alternate world but I feel that alternate world wasn't enough to set this apart from any other bland mystery

Has The City & The City turned you off from other books in this genre?

This is cross genre so no.

Which character – as performed by John Lee – was your favorite?

I liked the main character as performed by Lee. I love John Lee's narrating.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

It might be better as a movie. And that's why its a pretty crappy book. Not enough substance.

Any additional comments?

A slightly better Mieville story but still not extraordinary or memorable. The reason for the duality of the cities was not very well explained - or I wasn't interested enough to remember it. And thus it can't have been that groundbreaking . The end was a let down.Its another of those books where the protagonist goes here and does something and then they go there and do something and it never really adds anything to the plot or fleshes out the world any better. It was a cool idea let down by a boring plot and poor execution. Even John Lee's fantastic narration couldn't save this one.

Overall

5 out of 5 stars

Performance

5 out of 5 stars

Story

5 out of 5 stars

Shom

05-04-13

Highly recommended

Any additional comments?

I am lucky in that I have read quite a few extraordinary books this year. This is certainly one of them. A masterpiece of the genre. Miéville is the superstar of the genre, and I was intrigued to find out why. Now I know. His acclaim is well deserved - This is top notch social commentary, a breakneck, hurtling detective story, and the best sci-fi novel I have read in a long, long time.

The voice artiste does a great job too.

Please listen. Highly recommended.

Overall

5 out of 5 stars

Performance

5 out of 5 stars

Story

5 out of 5 stars

K

07-03-13

Fascinating

This is a really excellent story: interesting and twisty. It was also brilliantly read.